Story Highlights

As superintendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools, I oversee one of Michigan’s well-funded public school districts. I am proud of our schools and students.

But it doesn't make sense that all schools are funded through a broken, obsolete system that is unable to account and adjust for local district circumstances. Each Michigan public school district faces unique challenges.

That’s why I support the School Finance Research Collaborative that is taking a fresh look at what it truly costs to educate all Michigan public school students.

It’s not just about my district or my students. It’s about the future of all Michigan public school students and the Great Lakes State itself. Michigan’s jobs of tomorrow demand a high-quality K-12 public education today.

I’ve witnessed the challenges rural districts face firsthand — as a former principal in Montcalm County, and as a former elementary school teacher in a small, rural district in northeast Michigan.

Many factors impact school districts differently, including special education needs, English language proficiency, income level, geography and beyond. This presents unique challenges to providing a high-quality education to all students in the state’s rural, urban and suburban centers.

It is imperative that we rethink Michigan’s public school funding system so all students, regardless of their circumstances, are prepared for college and careers.

The collaborative, a diverse, bipartisan group of business and education leaders from metro Detroit to the U.P., supports a new school funding adequacy study. The study is using multiple methodologies to determine what it costs to prepare all students for bright futures, whether that means apprenticeships, technical training, college or jobs.

Adequacy studies have proven to be the first step toward any meaningful school reforms across the country. All students, whether they board the school bus in Bloomfield Hills, Montcalm County, metro Detroit, Grand Rapids or the U.P., deserve no less.

Robert Glass is superintendent of Bloomfield Hills Schools and the 2017 Michigan Superintendent of the Year.